“A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are made for.”—William G. T. Shedd
I recently asked friends to share a favorite quote. The above quote was shared by an ol’ football coach (he’s a teacher, too, but I never had him for class). It is an appropriate message for a teacher/coach to share. I guess, after all these years, he is still doing the job of teacher and coach.
This statement speaks to me on so many levels. It speaks to Purpose. It speaks to fear. It is a call to action. It is a challenge to take risks and seek opportunities. It invites us to carpe momento!
We tend to play it “safe”. We avoid the risk of failure. We drop anchor and stay put. Sadly, though, when a ship stays in port, it never sees the world.
We are made for adventure. We are not made for the safety of the harbor. We are meant to set off for uncharted territory and to find who we are to become.
My friend, Coyte Cooper (Make Your Mark) stresses that goals are to be unreasonable by ordinary standards. Anyone who ever achieved anything noteworthy was probably told by someone that they could not do what they intended to do. “The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible” (Arthur C. Clarke). The impossible is not found by anchoring the ship.
What is keeping your ship in the harbor? Now is not the time to play it safe. Your ship is made for doing what today is not possible. Go! Opportunity awaits. Be (extra)ordinary!!
Carpe momento!